Wrap Up!
Basic, Advanced & Common Core Correlations Discovery Exercise
1. What was your biggest discovery?
The biggest discovery I had while completing this challenge was simply how incredibly much more information is available to us than what we really do utilize. There are a few of the available resources I use on a regular basis but many that I really had only seen but never really used at all.
2. How will you promote or use the resources with your patrons, colleagues or students?
After now completing the challenge activities I have more confidence in using them more to their potential. In our library, we do have patrons who occasionally need resources that are beyond what we have available in house. I have decided to go through our computers and actually bookmark some of these resources so that they are more easily available for patrons. I also think I need to promote these resources to our other staff members so they can assist patrons in the best way possible. I believe that electronic resources are only going to become more and more commonly used in the future and we need to be educated and able to use them fluently. There is a difference between knowing they are there, and actually navigating them to be used to their potential. This has been a wonderful opportunity to gain that experience and confidence to do just that. I hope to share what I have gained with coworkers and in the end benefit our library patrons.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Lesson 9 South Dakota Library Resource Challenge
History and Genealogy Resources—Ancestry Library, Heritage Quest and Sanborn Maps
I search for my name, Tammy Swenson and found that apparently there are a lot of us! I found 17577 hits. I narrowed the search and still found gadzooks of them. I have been doing genealogy for over 10 years and so I am in my tree posted online. Many others have included the information in their as I linked to their trees as well.
2. In AncestryLibrary, search for a grandparent or great-grandparent and see if you can locate them in the census. Report your findings.
Again, because I have done genealogy for so long, I have found many records for my grandparents. I have one branch trailed back to the 1200's in Denmark. I have the world membership which allows to look outside the US and creates even more fun!
3. In AncestryLibrary, type "South Dakota" in the location box and click Search. On the left side of the next screen is a link for Pictures. Click Pictures, see what's there, and look at one or more. Report your findings.
When searching for pictures in the manner as we were instructed, I found there are more pictures available for south Dakota than any of us could ever live long enough to view. Thankfully they are indexed allowing specific searches. Not only are there historical pictures available, there are many that are scanned documents, postcards, and family photos available. It is a great resource for finding civil war information and for me I found my grandfather's draft registration card. It was fun to see his handwriting, and even his specific height, weight, and coloring including his eye color.
5. In Sanborn Maps, select South Dakota. Then select your town or a town with which you are familiar. Choose a date. Look at the first page containing the Index. Then navigate around the pages and see what you discover. Try to find a building on the map that is still in use today. Report your findings
In Sanborn Maps, I looked for Milbank, South Dakota. I chose to look back as far as I could go figuring I may as well see the biggest change I could. There was 3 pages available for July of 1884. This was only a few years after the arrival of my great grandparents who undoubtedly went to Milbank for supplies, etc. It was interesting how few of homes there actually was at the time, or at least how far apart they were. Many blocks only had a few homes. Main street did have many buildings and some of them still do stand today.
1. Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be dead to be listed in AncestryLibrary and can frequently find useful information in the U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002. You may even find your marriage license. Search for your own name in AncestryLibrary and report the results.
I search for my name, Tammy Swenson and found that apparently there are a lot of us! I found 17577 hits. I narrowed the search and still found gadzooks of them. I have been doing genealogy for over 10 years and so I am in my tree posted online. Many others have included the information in their as I linked to their trees as well.
2. In AncestryLibrary, search for a grandparent or great-grandparent and see if you can locate them in the census. Report your findings.
Again, because I have done genealogy for so long, I have found many records for my grandparents. I have one branch trailed back to the 1200's in Denmark. I have the world membership which allows to look outside the US and creates even more fun!
3. In AncestryLibrary, type "South Dakota" in the location box and click Search. On the left side of the next screen is a link for Pictures. Click Pictures, see what's there, and look at one or more. Report your findings.
When searching for pictures in the manner as we were instructed, I found there are more pictures available for south Dakota than any of us could ever live long enough to view. Thankfully they are indexed allowing specific searches. Not only are there historical pictures available, there are many that are scanned documents, postcards, and family photos available. It is a great resource for finding civil war information and for me I found my grandfather's draft registration card. It was fun to see his handwriting, and even his specific height, weight, and coloring including his eye color.
4. In HeritageQuest, there are over 28,000 family and local histories in their online historical books. Search for a place or browse the publications. Report back on something that interested you.
I have generally had more successful searches in Ancestry than I ever had in HeritageQuest. today was no exception. I entered a number of locations which I have in my family tree connections before ever having a publication show up. It was somewhat of interest though. I searched for Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. This are is where my great grandmothers parents settled when first arriving in the United States. After some time there they moved to Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota. The only information I found was a book about how the area in Manitowoc County was divided at the time of settlement. I was easily able to see the maps and areas as they were divided. I do occasionally use HeritageQuest but it generally isn't my first go to source.
In Sanborn Maps, I looked for Milbank, South Dakota. I chose to look back as far as I could go figuring I may as well see the biggest change I could. There was 3 pages available for July of 1884. This was only a few years after the arrival of my great grandparents who undoubtedly went to Milbank for supplies, etc. It was interesting how few of homes there actually was at the time, or at least how far apart they were. Many blocks only had a few homes. Main street did have many buildings and some of them still do stand today.
Lesson 8 South Dakota Library Challenge
World Cat, Camio and More
Basic Discovery Exercise part 1
1. We recommend using the Advanced Search screen for best search results. Click the “Advanced” tab on the toolbar 2nd to the top. In WorldCat, the right set of search boxes say “Keyword.” Click on the drop down menu to see other ways you can search.
I do the ILL's for our library so I use world cat on a regular basis. There are many ways to search other than the "Keyword" but the ones I most often use are, author, material type, publisher, ISBN, Subject, and Series title. Depending on the information I have and how difficult the search, I choose one of those options pretty much on each search I do.
2. Choose Title Phrase search, and click on the limiter (below the search boxes) “Books.” In the search box, type a book title. Note the number of results. How many libraries worldwide have item #1? Click the link. What is the top library?
I chose the book, "Grace Unplugged" by Melody Carlson for my search merely because I had just finished the book moments before working on my challenge lesson. I noted it categorized my results into visual, books, internet and sound finds. Since I was looking for the books, I clicked in the book section to find how many libraries world wide had the title. I found 392 libraries own it. Once clicking on the link I found the top library to be "Alexander Mitchell Library" which I know is actually located in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
3. Click into result #1 and look at the full record. What is the call number (class descriptor)? To see what else the author of your chosen book has written, click on the author's name. To see what else is available on that subject, click on a subject. What other information do you see?
Looking at the full record and seeing what information is available for my searched title, I found the call number as well as it classified as PS=American Literature. It was easy to see what other information was available because those sections are in blue. When clicking on the Author, Melody Carlson I found 708 other titles connected to her. When clicking on the subject, I found a list of other material that are linked to the same type of subject matter. It is a great resource to have all this information so easy to find and clearly presented. From publication information, general description of the storyline, genre to even the geographical setting, the information is easily available.
Basic Discovery Exercise part 1
The OAIster (pronounced “oyster”) database is one of the few mostly full text databases in WorldCat. Choose OAIster from the dropdown menu next to “Search in database.” In the “Keyword” search box, type South Dakota. Select one of your results. Click on the link next to “Access.” Add to your Lesson 8 blog posting by writing about your findings and your impressions of this tool.
Take a look at other participant's blogs and see how their experiences compared with yours.
I did as was directed in the challenge and searched in OAIster for the keyword, "South Dakota." Many of the first options where sound recordings and I really didn't want a sound recording so I selected the #24 on the list which was, "A Family Action Program-Home Protection Plan Exercise." It showed me the internet resource was from the Federal Civil Defense Administration. Once I clicked on it, it loaded a 32 page booklet from the Archives. I was expecting a fire plan or storm plan but it geared more towards being prepared for a nuclear attack. I can see this being a great resource for finding articles and pamphlets that have been archived and would be almost impossible to find without this resource. In looking for other blogs to see what they experienced, I found many hadn't completed the project yet. One did say she liked it, but thought it would take some getting used to...I tend to agree. I think it is a great resource but a real hit and miss.
Discovery Exercise part 3
Basic Discovery Exercise
You will need to complete this exercise at your school or library. CAMIO is not accessible from home. You can access CAMIO via this alphabetical list.
1. In the search box, type “Sioux.” Click on an image and notice what information is given and how you can manipulate the image. Blog about your results.
It was quite easy to manipulate the image. I was able to turn it, resize it, etc. It was actually kind of fun and I can see students enjoying that part alone.
2. How would you and your community use this resource? What other observations can you make?
I think this resource would be useful to many who have an interest in art, whether it be for a school class or personal use. In our community we have a group that has recently started to promote art and culture in the community. I think they may have interest in the CAMIO resources.
3. CAMIO has a lot of potential for personalizing and presenting research. Do a search on a subject of your choice. Choose 3 or 4 favorites by checking the box to the left of the image number. Click "Save to Favorites"on the toolbar at the top of the results next to "Relevance" and "Display Options." Then click "Favorites" in the gray bar in the upper right of the screen. On the left sidebar, click to export to PowerPoint or Zip Archive File. This allows you to manipulate and use the images in a variety of ways. Try out these features and report your findings.
Wow! Again I liked to be able to manipulate the images. It did take me a bit to get to that point though. There are many step involved. I think if I had more time it would become easier. I think this would be used more in an academic library than in our public library. Again...it is a great resource for those who have an art interest whether it be personal or for a report type project.
Basic Discovery Exercise part 1
1. We recommend using the Advanced Search screen for best search results. Click the “Advanced” tab on the toolbar 2nd to the top. In WorldCat, the right set of search boxes say “Keyword.” Click on the drop down menu to see other ways you can search.
I do the ILL's for our library so I use world cat on a regular basis. There are many ways to search other than the "Keyword" but the ones I most often use are, author, material type, publisher, ISBN, Subject, and Series title. Depending on the information I have and how difficult the search, I choose one of those options pretty much on each search I do.
2. Choose Title Phrase search, and click on the limiter (below the search boxes) “Books.” In the search box, type a book title. Note the number of results. How many libraries worldwide have item #1? Click the link. What is the top library?
I chose the book, "Grace Unplugged" by Melody Carlson for my search merely because I had just finished the book moments before working on my challenge lesson. I noted it categorized my results into visual, books, internet and sound finds. Since I was looking for the books, I clicked in the book section to find how many libraries world wide had the title. I found 392 libraries own it. Once clicking on the link I found the top library to be "Alexander Mitchell Library" which I know is actually located in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
3. Click into result #1 and look at the full record. What is the call number (class descriptor)? To see what else the author of your chosen book has written, click on the author's name. To see what else is available on that subject, click on a subject. What other information do you see?
Looking at the full record and seeing what information is available for my searched title, I found the call number as well as it classified as PS=American Literature. It was easy to see what other information was available because those sections are in blue. When clicking on the Author, Melody Carlson I found 708 other titles connected to her. When clicking on the subject, I found a list of other material that are linked to the same type of subject matter. It is a great resource to have all this information so easy to find and clearly presented. From publication information, general description of the storyline, genre to even the geographical setting, the information is easily available.
Basic Discovery Exercise part 1
The OAIster (pronounced “oyster”) database is one of the few mostly full text databases in WorldCat. Choose OAIster from the dropdown menu next to “Search in database.” In the “Keyword” search box, type South Dakota. Select one of your results. Click on the link next to “Access.” Add to your Lesson 8 blog posting by writing about your findings and your impressions of this tool.
Take a look at other participant's blogs and see how their experiences compared with yours.
I did as was directed in the challenge and searched in OAIster for the keyword, "South Dakota." Many of the first options where sound recordings and I really didn't want a sound recording so I selected the #24 on the list which was, "A Family Action Program-Home Protection Plan Exercise." It showed me the internet resource was from the Federal Civil Defense Administration. Once I clicked on it, it loaded a 32 page booklet from the Archives. I was expecting a fire plan or storm plan but it geared more towards being prepared for a nuclear attack. I can see this being a great resource for finding articles and pamphlets that have been archived and would be almost impossible to find without this resource. In looking for other blogs to see what they experienced, I found many hadn't completed the project yet. One did say she liked it, but thought it would take some getting used to...I tend to agree. I think it is a great resource but a real hit and miss.
Discovery Exercise part 3
Basic Discovery Exercise
You will need to complete this exercise at your school or library. CAMIO is not accessible from home. You can access CAMIO via this alphabetical list.
1. In the search box, type “Sioux.” Click on an image and notice what information is given and how you can manipulate the image. Blog about your results.
It was quite easy to manipulate the image. I was able to turn it, resize it, etc. It was actually kind of fun and I can see students enjoying that part alone.
2. How would you and your community use this resource? What other observations can you make?
I think this resource would be useful to many who have an interest in art, whether it be for a school class or personal use. In our community we have a group that has recently started to promote art and culture in the community. I think they may have interest in the CAMIO resources.
3. CAMIO has a lot of potential for personalizing and presenting research. Do a search on a subject of your choice. Choose 3 or 4 favorites by checking the box to the left of the image number. Click "Save to Favorites"on the toolbar at the top of the results next to "Relevance" and "Display Options." Then click "Favorites" in the gray bar in the upper right of the screen. On the left sidebar, click to export to PowerPoint or Zip Archive File. This allows you to manipulate and use the images in a variety of ways. Try out these features and report your findings.
Wow! Again I liked to be able to manipulate the images. It did take me a bit to get to that point though. There are many step involved. I think if I had more time it would become easier. I think this would be used more in an academic library than in our public library. Again...it is a great resource for those who have an art interest whether it be personal or for a report type project.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Lesson 7 South Dakota Library Challenge
Books on EbscoHost
Basic Discovery Exercise:
1. Do a search for a topic that interests you. Note the default search is "Find all my search terms." You may want to change the search to one of the other options. Review your findings and observations.
With the beautiful weather this week feeling like Spring is here, baseball was the topic of interest for me. Specifically I chose to search for Minnesota Twins baseball. As I typed in the search box, I noticed as you type a drop down appeared with search options. I think the search options available allowing more options to expand or narrow the search is especially beneficial. My Minneosta Twins baseball search brought up 242 options. Not all were baseball Twins...it also showed birth twins, etc. As I scrolled I noticed a book, "The Baseball Maniac's Almanac." Sounded like my kind of book so I selected it. I especially liked the "table of contests" located to the left side of the screen. By clicking on part 2 I was able to get quickly to the section giving team by team histories. After skipping to the central division I was able to find the Minnesota Twins section which included years, stadium, as well as both team and individual records. A fan such as myself was got stuck reading about the greats such as Harman Killebrew, Tony Olivia, Rod Carew, and Kirby Picket who have been leaders in the Twins franchise for many years.
2. Constitution Day is looming and several students need more material. Search EBooks on EbscoHost and recommend some appropriate titles.
Because Constitution Day celebrated the signing of the Constitution in 1787 I would recommend the following books which were included in the 37 results when searched with the "find all my search term" option; "AP U.S History," "A Dictionary of American History" or "The Illustrated Dictionary of Constitutional concepts."
3. A class is doing projects on Western history. They have exhausted the library's print collection. In EBooks on EbscoHost, click "Advanced Search." In the "Select a Field" box, choose "PB Publisher." In the search box, type "Nebraska" or "Oklahoma." Report your findings.
For this final part of this weeks challenge, I did as was instructed and entered "Nebraska" under "Advanced Search" narrowed to a "PB Publisher." I had 88 source listed to choose from. I can see that this would be a useful took when doing research and the flexible research options make it very user friendly.
Basic Discovery Exercise:
1. Do a search for a topic that interests you. Note the default search is "Find all my search terms." You may want to change the search to one of the other options. Review your findings and observations.
With the beautiful weather this week feeling like Spring is here, baseball was the topic of interest for me. Specifically I chose to search for Minnesota Twins baseball. As I typed in the search box, I noticed as you type a drop down appeared with search options. I think the search options available allowing more options to expand or narrow the search is especially beneficial. My Minneosta Twins baseball search brought up 242 options. Not all were baseball Twins...it also showed birth twins, etc. As I scrolled I noticed a book, "The Baseball Maniac's Almanac." Sounded like my kind of book so I selected it. I especially liked the "table of contests" located to the left side of the screen. By clicking on part 2 I was able to get quickly to the section giving team by team histories. After skipping to the central division I was able to find the Minnesota Twins section which included years, stadium, as well as both team and individual records. A fan such as myself was got stuck reading about the greats such as Harman Killebrew, Tony Olivia, Rod Carew, and Kirby Picket who have been leaders in the Twins franchise for many years.
2. Constitution Day is looming and several students need more material. Search EBooks on EbscoHost and recommend some appropriate titles.
Because Constitution Day celebrated the signing of the Constitution in 1787 I would recommend the following books which were included in the 37 results when searched with the "find all my search term" option; "AP U.S History," "A Dictionary of American History" or "The Illustrated Dictionary of Constitutional concepts."
3. A class is doing projects on Western history. They have exhausted the library's print collection. In EBooks on EbscoHost, click "Advanced Search." In the "Select a Field" box, choose "PB Publisher." In the search box, type "Nebraska" or "Oklahoma." Report your findings.
For this final part of this weeks challenge, I did as was instructed and entered "Nebraska" under "Advanced Search" narrowed to a "PB Publisher." I had 88 source listed to choose from. I can see that this would be a useful took when doing research and the flexible research options make it very user friendly.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Lesson 6 South Dakota Library Challenge
Gale Virtual Reference Library
1. Getting to know the titles in GVRL is similar to getting to know the titles of your library's reference collection. Click "Title List" on the upper right to view all the titles available in the collection. Click a book title of interest to you and access an article via the table of contents. Notice with the multi-volume titles, you can select which volume you look at. Discuss the title you selected and how you may use it.
I selected the area of "History" and then clicked on the "Title List." A long list of titles appeared but the one I was interested in was titled, "America Under Attack: September 11, 2001." The contents page showed each chapter and the title. I noticed at the top of the screen was options for downloading either as a PDF or a MP3. I think patrons would love that option at times when they want to be able to have it for reference or a more convenient time. I am always drawn to information on for 911 attack in hopes of making some sense of it. My cousin worked as an international banker for a company with offices in the World Trade Center. He had a speaking engagement at an college and was out of the office. He lost his job at day as the company was gone but more importantly he lost all his co-workers and was left to make sense of "why." I am always drawn to anything that can help answer that question.
2. At the top of the home page, type a search term in the search box. Search for answers to the two questions posed at the beginning of the post: zinc or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn if you can't think of something else. Review the results, selecting an article to see what kind of information you can find. Test the "Listen" feature. Discuss your results.
I chose to pursue the answer to the first question, “What foods have zinc in them?” I entered "Zinc in the search bar and found a number of sources listed but I was most interested in the one titled, "Vitamins." At the end of article it listed a reference to "other articles linked to indexed terms" and I noticed the last one was Zinc and specifically food sources. When I went to page 298 I found information on the difference between sources that are high in zinc and sources that are fortified with zinc. It also had a quick reference illustration that included oysters, chuck roast, burgers, beef tacos, cereals, veg soup and even unsweetened chocolate as zinc sources. I listened to the article for a bit, but found it to not be for me. It is quite slow moving and I am a scanner who likes a fast pace.
3. Look at 2 or 3 other participants' blogs to see what they discovered. Comment if you like.
I did look at many of the other blogs to see what they discovered. I found only a few had completed Lesson 6. I did see that "Crazy Librarian Lady had done Lesson 6. She had also searched for Zinc but had used a different source than I had. I agreed with her that the Gale Virtual Reference Library "is a good tool for reference and everyday learning."
1. Getting to know the titles in GVRL is similar to getting to know the titles of your library's reference collection. Click "Title List" on the upper right to view all the titles available in the collection. Click a book title of interest to you and access an article via the table of contents. Notice with the multi-volume titles, you can select which volume you look at. Discuss the title you selected and how you may use it.
I selected the area of "History" and then clicked on the "Title List." A long list of titles appeared but the one I was interested in was titled, "America Under Attack: September 11, 2001." The contents page showed each chapter and the title. I noticed at the top of the screen was options for downloading either as a PDF or a MP3. I think patrons would love that option at times when they want to be able to have it for reference or a more convenient time. I am always drawn to information on for 911 attack in hopes of making some sense of it. My cousin worked as an international banker for a company with offices in the World Trade Center. He had a speaking engagement at an college and was out of the office. He lost his job at day as the company was gone but more importantly he lost all his co-workers and was left to make sense of "why." I am always drawn to anything that can help answer that question.
2. At the top of the home page, type a search term in the search box. Search for answers to the two questions posed at the beginning of the post: zinc or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn if you can't think of something else. Review the results, selecting an article to see what kind of information you can find. Test the "Listen" feature. Discuss your results.
I chose to pursue the answer to the first question, “What foods have zinc in them?” I entered "Zinc in the search bar and found a number of sources listed but I was most interested in the one titled, "Vitamins." At the end of article it listed a reference to "other articles linked to indexed terms" and I noticed the last one was Zinc and specifically food sources. When I went to page 298 I found information on the difference between sources that are high in zinc and sources that are fortified with zinc. It also had a quick reference illustration that included oysters, chuck roast, burgers, beef tacos, cereals, veg soup and even unsweetened chocolate as zinc sources. I listened to the article for a bit, but found it to not be for me. It is quite slow moving and I am a scanner who likes a fast pace.
3. Look at 2 or 3 other participants' blogs to see what they discovered. Comment if you like.
I did look at many of the other blogs to see what they discovered. I found only a few had completed Lesson 6. I did see that "Crazy Librarian Lady had done Lesson 6. She had also searched for Zinc but had used a different source than I had. I agreed with her that the Gale Virtual Reference Library "is a good tool for reference and everyday learning."
Lesson 5-South Dakota Library Challenge
Proquest Research and Discovery Library
Basic Discovery Exercise
1. Do a basic search on something of interest to you. Report your findings and observations.
I chose to search for "Coconut Oil." After seeing 11,229 hits I opted to narrow the search for specifically "Coconut Oil Benefits." The new search showed 2541 articles. Having just purchased my first jar of "Coconut Oil" after a friend raved of its many uses, what I wanted to know is how many uses there are I hadn't yet heard of. I was able to easily scan down the list until an article from "Women's Fitness" Summer of 2014 article caught my eye. It was titled, "Join the Coconut Craze." What I really liked was how it first gave the summary so I could see if it was actually of interest and then went into the full text. As I suspected, the coconut has many uses and is now taking center stage as a super food. It explained benefits from the kitchen to the makeup bag.
1.a. See what your Challenge cohort is discovering. Choose at least one other Challenge blog, read that person's post (about this or a previous lesson), and comment on it. You may like to check each other's blogs throughout the Challenge as you learn together.
Since the beginning of the challenge, I have been checking the blogs of others also doing the challenge. Mostly because I had never worked with a blog and wanted to verify I was on the right track. One of the first ones I checked today was "Crazy Librarian Lady." Of course I was drawn to the name because that is totally my sense of humor. I loved her page design as much as her name. I was so surprised to see her comment complimenting my page. However, I was unable to figure out how to comment on hers. She is further along on the challenge than myself...and looks to be doing great.
2. Click the Publications tab at the top of the page. You will see an alphabetical list of the periodicals indexed in Proquest and the years included. Notice that this list is "Full text only." Do a search for a journal in your profession by typing a title or keyword in the search box. Report your findings and observations.
I am the IT Coordinator for our Library so I chose to search "Library Technology" in the search box. I noticed a drop down arrow allowed more specific searches by changing between; in title, title begins with, in publication summary or in subject. I first left it to the default "in title." Only 2 articles were found so I changed to the "in subject." In this case, it made no change to the search.
Basic Discovery Exercise
1. Do a basic search on something of interest to you. Report your findings and observations.
I chose to search for "Coconut Oil." After seeing 11,229 hits I opted to narrow the search for specifically "Coconut Oil Benefits." The new search showed 2541 articles. Having just purchased my first jar of "Coconut Oil" after a friend raved of its many uses, what I wanted to know is how many uses there are I hadn't yet heard of. I was able to easily scan down the list until an article from "Women's Fitness" Summer of 2014 article caught my eye. It was titled, "Join the Coconut Craze." What I really liked was how it first gave the summary so I could see if it was actually of interest and then went into the full text. As I suspected, the coconut has many uses and is now taking center stage as a super food. It explained benefits from the kitchen to the makeup bag.
1.a. See what your Challenge cohort is discovering. Choose at least one other Challenge blog, read that person's post (about this or a previous lesson), and comment on it. You may like to check each other's blogs throughout the Challenge as you learn together.
Since the beginning of the challenge, I have been checking the blogs of others also doing the challenge. Mostly because I had never worked with a blog and wanted to verify I was on the right track. One of the first ones I checked today was "Crazy Librarian Lady." Of course I was drawn to the name because that is totally my sense of humor. I loved her page design as much as her name. I was so surprised to see her comment complimenting my page. However, I was unable to figure out how to comment on hers. She is further along on the challenge than myself...and looks to be doing great.
2. Click the Publications tab at the top of the page. You will see an alphabetical list of the periodicals indexed in Proquest and the years included. Notice that this list is "Full text only." Do a search for a journal in your profession by typing a title or keyword in the search box. Report your findings and observations.
I am the IT Coordinator for our Library so I chose to search "Library Technology" in the search box. I noticed a drop down arrow allowed more specific searches by changing between; in title, title begins with, in publication summary or in subject. I first left it to the default "in title." Only 2 articles were found so I changed to the "in subject." In this case, it made no change to the search.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Week 4 South Dakota Library Challenge
SIRS Discoverer
1. Challenge: Look up armadillos (or your favorite animals) and discuss the results. Note if you find pictures and the various reading levels of the articles. (Remember, articles in SIRS Discoverer are selected, so you may not find something from yesterday's news.)
The animal I chose to search for was the tiger. I wanted to pick something that I thought would produce some findings, yet something that would be interesting. Multiple pages of articles showed up. More than a thousand articles showed up. I like how the tabs across the top of the page allow for easily narrowing the search and the color coded icons help you find the best suited article for your needs. The colorful screen is easy to navigate and is a great resource. In the library we only have so much space so having these resources available online is a huge benefit for patrons.
2. Some of the most useful features in SIRS Discoverer are the "Database Features" located on the right hand side of the window. Explore this section by:
SIRS Issues Researcher
1. Select a leading issue and discuss the information located there, noting the topic overview, research tools and articles.
I chose to research "capital punishment." The topic seems to have been brought to the for-front here in South Dakota lately with an inmate recently being executed and another soon to be. As I suspected a HUGE amount of information was available. I liked the fact that you can choose between a quick search and an advanced search with the ability to narrow the search fields. Many articles were available. The research tools are wonderful. I especially like the A to Z list which would be a huge help when selected a subject for a paper. The top 10 was interesting, and I was surprised my capital punishment wasn't higher on the list. My favorite tool was the Pro vs. Con. I have always been interested in debate and imploring different sides of a topic.
2. Select "Curriculum Pathfinders" on the right hand side of the window and mouse over the course subjects, noting the range of topics covered. Pick your favorite subject and discuss the information located there.
When I explored the "Curriculum Pathfinders" and moved my mouse over the subjects, I noted just how many subjects had information available. All major subjects seemed to be available. I selected "health." I first noticed a section highlighted in a blue box with research ideas. Listed in the box were depression, obesity, Abortion, healthy diet and more. I clicked on the topic, "Disease prevention." A long list of web articles was listed. I selected one that talked about Influenza. With the large number of influenza cases this winter, and many questioning the immunization process I was interested in this article. I was directed to the web site which offered broad information on the subject. It gave the treatments, symptoms, etc.
1. Challenge: Look up armadillos (or your favorite animals) and discuss the results. Note if you find pictures and the various reading levels of the articles. (Remember, articles in SIRS Discoverer are selected, so you may not find something from yesterday's news.)
The animal I chose to search for was the tiger. I wanted to pick something that I thought would produce some findings, yet something that would be interesting. Multiple pages of articles showed up. More than a thousand articles showed up. I like how the tabs across the top of the page allow for easily narrowing the search and the color coded icons help you find the best suited article for your needs. The colorful screen is easy to navigate and is a great resource. In the library we only have so much space so having these resources available online is a huge benefit for patrons.
2. Some of the most useful features in SIRS Discoverer are the "Database Features" located on the right hand side of the window. Explore this section by:
- selecting a country in "Country Facts" and noting the information located there.
- selecting a map in "Maps of the World" and discussing a potential use.
- selecting one other area in "Database Features" and discuss the information located there.
SIRS Issues Researcher
1. Select a leading issue and discuss the information located there, noting the topic overview, research tools and articles.
I chose to research "capital punishment." The topic seems to have been brought to the for-front here in South Dakota lately with an inmate recently being executed and another soon to be. As I suspected a HUGE amount of information was available. I liked the fact that you can choose between a quick search and an advanced search with the ability to narrow the search fields. Many articles were available. The research tools are wonderful. I especially like the A to Z list which would be a huge help when selected a subject for a paper. The top 10 was interesting, and I was surprised my capital punishment wasn't higher on the list. My favorite tool was the Pro vs. Con. I have always been interested in debate and imploring different sides of a topic.
2. Select "Curriculum Pathfinders" on the right hand side of the window and mouse over the course subjects, noting the range of topics covered. Pick your favorite subject and discuss the information located there.
When I explored the "Curriculum Pathfinders" and moved my mouse over the subjects, I noted just how many subjects had information available. All major subjects seemed to be available. I selected "health." I first noticed a section highlighted in a blue box with research ideas. Listed in the box were depression, obesity, Abortion, healthy diet and more. I clicked on the topic, "Disease prevention." A long list of web articles was listed. I selected one that talked about Influenza. With the large number of influenza cases this winter, and many questioning the immunization process I was interested in this article. I was directed to the web site which offered broad information on the subject. It gave the treatments, symptoms, etc.
Week 3: South Dakota Library Challenge
Learning Express Library-
1. The first part of the week 3 challenge was to set up an account in the Learning Express Library and browse through the available exams that are available. Setting up the account was fast and easy. Navigation through the Learning Express Library was also simplistic and while I had looked at it on a few other occasions I was surprised at how much is actually available.
2. The second part of this weeks challenge was to choose 1 specific exam and to answer a few questions before advancing to the diagnostic page and viewing the answers. I chose to do a "Data Analysis and Probability"test. I answered half of the questions and advanced to the "score my test" option. When viewing my test and the answers it was easy to see how helpful such a test would be. Easy to use, not so long that a person can't complete them quickly and information easily available to learn from the answers.
3. When looking under the career resources tab and seeing how much information was available for a large variety of career paths. I looked under "Caseworker" and found over 200 pages of information available. I also noted under medical, teaching and nursing there was even more! Resources were available with general information, preparation for entrance exams, preparation for occupational exams, military preparations and even ways to improve job searching skills. I chose to explore the "Great Resume" resources available because this coming spring we intend to offer a course to patrons on the subject. The information available was easy to maneuver with detailed step by step information. It offered everything from what should be included, to what should not be included, its purpose, format and more.
4. For the final part of this weeks challenge, we were to search a term in the search box for a skills improvement or career topic in which we are interested. I tried a number of searches before my attempt at "Law Enforcement." Law Enforcement exams are of interest to me now as my son will be finishing up his education and getting his degree in the field this spring. I paged through the eBook called, "Reasoning Skills for Law Enforcement Exams." It was 191 pages and was filled with a ton of information that I can see being helpful to my son.
1. The first part of the week 3 challenge was to set up an account in the Learning Express Library and browse through the available exams that are available. Setting up the account was fast and easy. Navigation through the Learning Express Library was also simplistic and while I had looked at it on a few other occasions I was surprised at how much is actually available.
2. The second part of this weeks challenge was to choose 1 specific exam and to answer a few questions before advancing to the diagnostic page and viewing the answers. I chose to do a "Data Analysis and Probability"test. I answered half of the questions and advanced to the "score my test" option. When viewing my test and the answers it was easy to see how helpful such a test would be. Easy to use, not so long that a person can't complete them quickly and information easily available to learn from the answers.
3. When looking under the career resources tab and seeing how much information was available for a large variety of career paths. I looked under "Caseworker" and found over 200 pages of information available. I also noted under medical, teaching and nursing there was even more! Resources were available with general information, preparation for entrance exams, preparation for occupational exams, military preparations and even ways to improve job searching skills. I chose to explore the "Great Resume" resources available because this coming spring we intend to offer a course to patrons on the subject. The information available was easy to maneuver with detailed step by step information. It offered everything from what should be included, to what should not be included, its purpose, format and more.
4. For the final part of this weeks challenge, we were to search a term in the search box for a skills improvement or career topic in which we are interested. I tried a number of searches before my attempt at "Law Enforcement." Law Enforcement exams are of interest to me now as my son will be finishing up his education and getting his degree in the field this spring. I paged through the eBook called, "Reasoning Skills for Law Enforcement Exams." It was 191 pages and was filled with a ton of information that I can see being helpful to my son.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Week 2 South Dakota Library Challenge
I was so excited to see the Chilton Library become available online and have referred many patrons to use it. We have had patrons come into the library looking for a vehicle manual who are excited to hear they can access the information from their shops, etc. The challenge is convincing them to go through the steps to get a state library card. It provides resources for many vehicle models back as far as 1940.
1. Our challenge was to look up the maintenance schedule for our own vehicle. I drive a 2013 Ford Fusion. When looking up the maintenance schedule it asked me many specifics that I really wasn't even sure of. Once I got through the specifics it gave me a list which included all the regular things from brake checks, fluid checks, to tire rotations. I thought maybe it would be more interesting on a bit older vehicle so I looked up our 2004 Avalanche. I found much information was available.
2 It gave a list of bullions which involved many little things from troubleshooting the navigation to inside lights flickering. I glanced through the list but haven't had a problem with any of them. The last bulletin posted about the Avalanche was about the tow and haul mode. We use this vehicle to pull our camper so I was interesting in the message but a more careful look showed it not to be a problem.
3. When looking under the repair tab I found a HUGE amount of details were available including diagrams for clarity. The information was specific and easy to navigate.
Mango Languages is a resource I have wanted to use but just haven't had time to do it yet. I would love to learn to speak Swedish and Norwegian which would be beneficial in my hobby of genealogy research. Mango Languages has 60 languages to choose from.
1. I shoes Swedish for my challenge and completed lesson 1. I love it. It is a great balance of visual and audio for ease. It moved slowly and was repetitive for a deeper learning. I was most appreciative of the cultural customs it added. It explained that in Sweden it is not customary to put a hand forward for a handshake when meeting. That would be very useful information if traveling to Sweden. I now can say "hello, how, stand, it, etc. More importantly...."tack" for the lesson 1 on my quest to speak Swedish.
2. The second part of our challenge was to answer how a Vietnamese student who wants to improve their English could benefit from using Mango language. I think one way would be to use the translator for phrasing. The English language uses many unusual phrases. The "use English" tab offered specifically learning English if you speak Vietnamese. Basically the option worked the same as when I was trying to learn Swedish and would be equally beneficial.
Tumblebooks is the electronic resource that I have used the most prior to this challenge. From the moment I first saw it...I was hooked. Children's books, available free to children with animation is a great thing. It offers picture books as well as chapter books. My favorite part is that it also offers puzzels and games for the kid's interaction. When working in the library I am often asked if we know the AR point values for books. Tumblebooks even offers that information.
1. Our challenge was to select and try a book, and give our impression. I selected "Scaredy Squirrel." It was a cute little story with life lessons about fear. As always I loved. it. I love that it gives the option of pages automatically turning the pages OR you can go at your own pace and read it to the child yourself. I think for parents there is a time and a place when both would be convenient.
2. Our challenge was to try a video or puzzle and give our impression. I chose a video of the Biography of Benjamin Franklin. I hadn't used the video option before this challenge and think children will love it. Again...I think there is a time and place where the video option will be a perk. Children love videos.
3. Question: To whom will I promote the Tumblebooks eRecourse. That is easy. It is perfect for anyone who has children in preschool or lower elementary. I have enjoyed Tumblebooks with my own grand-daughter.
1. Our challenge was to look up the maintenance schedule for our own vehicle. I drive a 2013 Ford Fusion. When looking up the maintenance schedule it asked me many specifics that I really wasn't even sure of. Once I got through the specifics it gave me a list which included all the regular things from brake checks, fluid checks, to tire rotations. I thought maybe it would be more interesting on a bit older vehicle so I looked up our 2004 Avalanche. I found much information was available.
2 It gave a list of bullions which involved many little things from troubleshooting the navigation to inside lights flickering. I glanced through the list but haven't had a problem with any of them. The last bulletin posted about the Avalanche was about the tow and haul mode. We use this vehicle to pull our camper so I was interesting in the message but a more careful look showed it not to be a problem.
3. When looking under the repair tab I found a HUGE amount of details were available including diagrams for clarity. The information was specific and easy to navigate.
Mango Languages is a resource I have wanted to use but just haven't had time to do it yet. I would love to learn to speak Swedish and Norwegian which would be beneficial in my hobby of genealogy research. Mango Languages has 60 languages to choose from.
1. I shoes Swedish for my challenge and completed lesson 1. I love it. It is a great balance of visual and audio for ease. It moved slowly and was repetitive for a deeper learning. I was most appreciative of the cultural customs it added. It explained that in Sweden it is not customary to put a hand forward for a handshake when meeting. That would be very useful information if traveling to Sweden. I now can say "hello, how, stand, it, etc. More importantly...."tack" for the lesson 1 on my quest to speak Swedish.
2. The second part of our challenge was to answer how a Vietnamese student who wants to improve their English could benefit from using Mango language. I think one way would be to use the translator for phrasing. The English language uses many unusual phrases. The "use English" tab offered specifically learning English if you speak Vietnamese. Basically the option worked the same as when I was trying to learn Swedish and would be equally beneficial.
Tumblebooks is the electronic resource that I have used the most prior to this challenge. From the moment I first saw it...I was hooked. Children's books, available free to children with animation is a great thing. It offers picture books as well as chapter books. My favorite part is that it also offers puzzels and games for the kid's interaction. When working in the library I am often asked if we know the AR point values for books. Tumblebooks even offers that information.
1. Our challenge was to select and try a book, and give our impression. I selected "Scaredy Squirrel." It was a cute little story with life lessons about fear. As always I loved. it. I love that it gives the option of pages automatically turning the pages OR you can go at your own pace and read it to the child yourself. I think for parents there is a time and a place when both would be convenient.
2. Our challenge was to try a video or puzzle and give our impression. I chose a video of the Biography of Benjamin Franklin. I hadn't used the video option before this challenge and think children will love it. Again...I think there is a time and place where the video option will be a perk. Children love videos.
3. Question: To whom will I promote the Tumblebooks eRecourse. That is easy. It is perfect for anyone who has children in preschool or lower elementary. I have enjoyed Tumblebooks with my own grand-daughter.
Week 1c South Dakota Library Challenge
World Book Foreign Language Edition is based on the World Book Student Discovery Encyclopedia and makes information available in both a Spanish Language Version and a French Language Version.
1. We were instructed to check out the visual dictionary in the language of our choice and look up an animal. I chose to use the World Book Spanish Language Version because in our area we have a large number of Spanish speaking workers therefore making it a useful resource in our Grant County Public Library. I don't speak any foreign language, and not knowing what to expect I decided to search for a very basic animal like a cat. This provided a challenge for me because I don't speak the languages getting around and even my cat searches were not productive. I do think we have patrons who would find this resource available to them in their native language as being useful.
2. We were instructed to go the World Book Spanish Version and look into an article and listen to it read aloud. Again, I can see this tool being very beneficial to a person who is just learning the language and by hearing it read would be able to try to comprehend what he hears. Not only does a person need to learn to speak a language but they need to learn to understand it when they hear it.
1. We were instructed to check out the visual dictionary in the language of our choice and look up an animal. I chose to use the World Book Spanish Language Version because in our area we have a large number of Spanish speaking workers therefore making it a useful resource in our Grant County Public Library. I don't speak any foreign language, and not knowing what to expect I decided to search for a very basic animal like a cat. This provided a challenge for me because I don't speak the languages getting around and even my cat searches were not productive. I do think we have patrons who would find this resource available to them in their native language as being useful.
2. We were instructed to go the World Book Spanish Version and look into an article and listen to it read aloud. Again, I can see this tool being very beneficial to a person who is just learning the language and by hearing it read would be able to try to comprehend what he hears. Not only does a person need to learn to speak a language but they need to learn to understand it when they hear it.
Week 1a South Dakota Library Challenge
World Book School Edition has four sections; Kids, Student, Advanced and Discover.1. The challenge instructions were to search for a mammal of choice, find a picture and information on its habitat using "World Book Kids." I chose to search for "monkey." What is more fun than a monkey? It brought up 35 articles related to "Monkeys" with very basic information such as type of monkey, a picture and where type each is native. "Monkeys are small mammals that often live in trees."
2. In order to evaluate the functioning of "World Book Kids" with "World Book Student" I did the same search to compare the findings. In the student version my monkey search produced 157 articles as well as additional information such as web site links, research guides, tables and maps. The information in the articles provides more details although were still quite basic. I can see this version being a great fit for upper elementary and Jr. High students, but think many high school students would gravitate to the quick and easy functioning as well.
3. The challenge instructions were to search for a county while using "World Book Advanced." I chose to search for "Sweden" in honor of my Swedish ancestry. In addition to the 318 articles it also gave many additional links to related information on the sides including a list of primary sources. I have a person interest in Sweden and quickly was lost reading through the many articles. In addition to the "Tools" such as allowing highlighting, printing, and emailing, I liked the link stating, "Facts in brief about Sweden" which was located front and center when I clicked on an article. This information could be useful to a student who needed to complete an essay and needs expand research or even a patron looking for information before traveling.
4. Surprisingly, I was most interested in the "World Book Discover." The last few years, we have seen more and more people in our community who have a language barrier and those numbers are expected to rise. With the ability to browse by basic topics supported by visuals it will give those with a limited English vocabulary the ability to research and have access to information that other wise may not be available to them. The translating tool will be very useful for them as well. I like the way its set up for browsing by a basic topic leading into sub categories.
Week 1b South Dakota Library Challenge
World Book Online Public Library Edition has 3 sections: Kids geared to elementary age children, Info-finder for grades 5-9 and Reference Center good for high school and adults.
1. We were instructed to go to the "WB Online for Kids" and search for a mammal, find a picture and info on its habitat. Easy enough. I choose to search for dolphin. First impression as I opened the page was that it looked appealing and simplistic. I had to click on the science projects link and see what was available there before I even did my mammal search. Having just worked with the science themed Summer Reading Program I was especially interested and felt it would be of interest to many of our young patrons. My dolphin search produced 21 articles, 4 pictures and 9 videos. I think many children would love the videos. Articles gave very basic information yet enough to inform and more importantly to peak more interest.
2. We were instructed to go to the "World Book Online Info Finder" and complete the same search. At a glance it was obvious more in-depth information would be available on the info finder than the kids version. The Science project link still remained but a newspaper link, biography links and research tools were also conveniently located. My search now returned 75 articles and a list of other sources too numerous to mention.
3. Using the "World Book Online Reference Center" we were research for a country...notice info available on the sidebars. I chose to look for "Norway." I HUGE amount of information was available. I really like that the information that is available is separated into categories for easy access. I love that it lists online books available and feel that patrons will really like that feature. While an article tends to lend bits and pieces of information...the books will offer a more complete arranged sequences of information.
1. We were instructed to go to the "WB Online for Kids" and search for a mammal, find a picture and info on its habitat. Easy enough. I choose to search for dolphin. First impression as I opened the page was that it looked appealing and simplistic. I had to click on the science projects link and see what was available there before I even did my mammal search. Having just worked with the science themed Summer Reading Program I was especially interested and felt it would be of interest to many of our young patrons. My dolphin search produced 21 articles, 4 pictures and 9 videos. I think many children would love the videos. Articles gave very basic information yet enough to inform and more importantly to peak more interest.
2. We were instructed to go to the "World Book Online Info Finder" and complete the same search. At a glance it was obvious more in-depth information would be available on the info finder than the kids version. The Science project link still remained but a newspaper link, biography links and research tools were also conveniently located. My search now returned 75 articles and a list of other sources too numerous to mention.
3. Using the "World Book Online Reference Center" we were research for a country...notice info available on the sidebars. I chose to look for "Norway." I HUGE amount of information was available. I really like that the information that is available is separated into categories for easy access. I love that it lists online books available and feel that patrons will really like that feature. While an article tends to lend bits and pieces of information...the books will offer a more complete arranged sequences of information.
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